Moonlight in the jungle
Stood upright
On the summit of the mountain of thought.
Now it shines
On the villages and deer
And streams.
In the great cold of repression
Wearing the steel armour of ideals
With its finger on the trigger
It stands guard over unfolding history
All day and night.
It teaches people's power
The sword drill
It cautions
Time.
Moonlight in the jungle!
Such beautiful moonlight!
Wearing the uniform of sacrifice
It lowers the clouds to the ground.
My translation of the Telugu poem 'aDavilO vennela', from the collection of poetry 'Sivasagar Kavitvam', by K. G. Satyamurthy ('Sivasagar').
The poet says he wrote this poem in 1985, sitting on the top of a hill in Bastar (then in Madhya Pradesh), during a period when he was a part of an Adivasi movement.
Tags: Sivasagar